Professor Layton and the Mysterious Monocle
by Mara360
Summary: When Layton finds an unexpected guest and an artifact, all hell beaks loose and Hershel is plunged into his longest, most confusing adventure yet! Rated T for gore and language. On hold.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1-It was a dark and stormy encounter

The rain pattered on the window hard and the wind blew fast around Layton's household. The thunder rolled and the lightning struck. But, oddly all was silent in the manor. Professor Hershel Layton sat at his desk with a note in his hand. Reading, his mind pondered over the note's sudden, unexpected, and well timed arrival after a long vacation with his apprentice, Luke Triton. On the last day of their trip, an old woman was muttering something strange about strange occurrences of seeing the same exact people twice. Layton couldn't even get her attention, she had looked dazed. Layton took a sip of his tea before he looked over the note again.

_Layton,_

_ A mystery will arrive in an unexpected way._

The letter had no signature and no return address. He was reminded of several puzzles, but this one was an entirely new puzzle all of it's own. He looked away from the note and focused on the day's newspaper that Luke picked up. The headline read:

MYSTERIOUS MONOCLE FOUND IN RUINS

"A week ago, scientists discovered a strange monocle in the ruins of Ambrosia. The glass was tinted purple and it seemed to be in flawless condition, as if it were made yesterday. It was found in a small household on the edge of the ruins inside a pot that retained its beauty, even all that time in the water."

The rest was useless information that Professor Layton already knew on his trip. He sighed. There was also a notice of a thief running around town and taking food. The most recent victim was one of his neighbors, where the only things they took were the bread and the cheese. He sipped the last of his tea and started to head for bed when, amongst the quiet of the house, there was a small clatter. Taking his small lantern, he headed to the kitchen. Quietly walking, in he saw the refrigerator door open and two feet were right below the door. He walked be hind the person, completely unaware that he was there.

"Perhaps you could have asked for alms instead of stealing from others." Layton said sternly.

The figure turned around suddenly. It was female teen. Her hair was long, wild, and poorly kept back with a small piece of leather. Her brown eyes were filled with fear as she had her mouth on a piece of fruit. She looked dreadfully skinny, as if she was starving to death. Her clothes were too large for her and she was very dirty.

Her appearance startled Layton at first, but he held his ground and barred her way of escape.

"Who are you, and why are you stealing from us?" Layton demanded quietly.

The girl tried to escape, running head first into him and falling back down when she didn't even have enough strength to lift herself up. She began to sob quietly and curled herself up into a ball. She cried for a long while before Layton said anything.

He took her appearance into consideration of why she might be stealing from others. He seemed to have a vague idea of why she was doing what she was doing.

He gently put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up suddenly, her dirty face now smeared with tears and snot. She looked absolutely pathetic, and Layton knew now that the only way to get to her was with kindness.

"Tell me, why are you stealing? Are your parents not able to get food on the table?" Layton asked softly.

She hiccuped a little while before saying anything.

"I was taken away from my family..." she whispered. Tears started rolling down her cheeks again.

"Who took you away?" Layton asked. He was curious, this child looked a lot like the woman he'd seen on his last vacation day.

"A man..." she said, not looking at the Professor. She remained curled up and her tears would not stop flowing.

He looked at her with sadness. Pulling out his silk handkerchief, he handed it to the poor child.

"Come now, dry those tears." Layton said.

She looked a the handkerchief for a moment and wiped her eyes and a considerable amount of dirt with it. She hiccuped a few more times then looked at Layton with a sad smile.

He held his hand out to her to help her up she got up wobbly and held onto him like a walking stick, only her grasp was notably weak. When she let go, she fell like a rag doll to the floor. She tried to get up, but her body was too weak to support her. She began to cry again, a little louder than last time.

_'My God... She's suffering from malnutrition...'_ He thought. He gently picked her up like a father would to his child and carried her to the spare bedroom they had. She struggled at first, but she was unable to push herself away and instead settled for the worst. He lay her on the bed and covered her with a blanket.

"Get some rest. You've been through a lot." he said to the child who was nodding off.

Soon, she fell asleep. She looked almost dead in her sleep. Layton left the room and headed towards his own. He went to sleep himself.

_'Inspector Clamp will be looking for her, no doubt. I shall explain to him that she is only a child and she is barely managing to survive.'_ this was the last thing he thought before he went to sleep.


	2. Layton's Compassion

Chapter 2

It was a bright morning. The sun shown on the streets of London. The first to wake was the young apprentice, Luke Triton. He was estatic. He knew the Professor had a long night, otherwise he would be up already and the house would smell of tea. He headed towards the kitchen to get breakfast ready for the Professor, his adopted daughter, Flora, and himself. When he got there he saw a patch of dirt and a half-eaten fruit in front of the refrigerator. He remembered the reports of a thief in the neighborhood and wondered if the thief had come in last night. He searched all over the kitchen for missing food and found everything else was intact.

"Hm, perhaps the Professah drove the fiend off..." Luke thought aloud.

"I did not drive her away, Luke." the Professors voice spoke behind Luke.

"Professah!" Luke exclaimed, "You saw the thief?"

"Yes," Layton said, "But I did not drive her out."

"Well, where is she, Professah?" Luke asked.

"She's in the spare bedroom." he replied

There was a sudden scream that came from the bedroom. Luke and Layton went to investigate the source of the terrified shriek. When they got to the spare bedroom, Flora was staring in fear at the bed.

"P-Professor..." she said faintly, pointing at the bed.

Layton immediately went over to see how the girl was doing. She was still breathing, but her pulse was weak and she had a high fever.

"I-Is she..." Flora whispered.

"No, she's alive." Layton said.

"Is this the thief, Professah?" Luke asked.

"I'm afraid so..." Layton replied sadly.

"She's so scrawny..." Luke said quietly.

"Luke, please get our guest something to eat." Professor Layton said.

Luke left with a nod. He ran towards the kitchen, Flora following.

The girl opened her eyes slowly. Her eyes looked around the room. She looked dazed and tired.

"Are you alright?" Layton asked.

She shook her head.

"...Hungry..." she whispered meekly.

"Don't worry," Layton said, "Food will be brought up shortly."

At that moment Luke came in with some biscuits and tea.

"Ah, Luke." Layton said, "Here, can you sit up?" he added to the girl.

He barely managed to get her to sit. She took a biscuit and ate it slowly.

They looked at her anxiously. She ate for a good hour before she slept again.

"Poor thing..." said Flora.

"What'll we do now Professah?" Luke asked.

"The only thing we can do, is keep her fed and call a doctor." Layton said, getting off of the edge of the bed. There was a knock.

"Luke, would you please answer the door?" Layton said heading towards his room.

Luke went to the front door and found Inspector Clamp there.

"Good day, Luke. Is Professor Layton at home?" he asked.

"Yes, sir." Luke said, allowing the Inspector Clamp in.

Professor Layton came to the living room, top-hat and all, to meet the Inspector.

"Ah, good day Inspector." said Layton.

"Layton, I need to ask you a few questions." the Inspector said, side glancing to the direction of the spare bedroom.

"Of course." Layton replied, undaunted.

"I need to know, did anyone enter the house last night?" the Inspector asked.

"Why, yes." Layton said.

"Did they come through the back door?" the inspector pressed.

"Yes, they did." Layton said, "If you are talking about the thief, she is less of a threat than you make her to be."

"What is this nonsense?" Clamp exclaimed, "Where is she?"

"You do not need to shout. She is in the guest bedroom." Layton said, "If you wish to see her, I will take you to her."

Inspector Clamp wasted no time in taking Layton up on the offer.

"Luke, I need you to bring a message to the doctor." Layton said, "Tell him Layton is in need of a house call, he must hurry."

"Gotcha Professor!" Luke said, running out the door.

"If you will follow me, Inspector." Layton said.

They both went to the guest's room and found the girl still on the bed, Flora tending to her fever.

Inspector Clamp went over and was shocked at her deathly appearance.

"As you can see, she is of no threat to society." Layton said, he went over to her and sat on the bed.

She opened her eyes, and cowered out of sheer terror, looking at Layton.

_'That's right, she hasn't seen me with my top hat on yet.'_ Layton thought, before he took off his hat.

"It's alright, it's alright, you don't need to be afraid." Layton said, holding her hand with his free one.

She looked at Layton for a moment and then sighed out of relief. She went back to sleep.

"As I have told you before, she is of no threat to anyone." Layton said putting his hat back on.

"... Indeed..." was all the Inspector said before leaving.

As the Layton waited for Luke to get back, he sat next to the girl's bed, the girl holding onto his arm all the while. He tried to leave the room, but the girl simply refused to let go. In her sleep, her face would scrunch in fear whenever he tried to leave.

_'She must have been terribly traumatized before we met...'_ Layton thought while looking at the girl slumber.

The doctor came an hour later. Examining the girl, he found she was suffering from malnutrition, as Layton had suspected in the first place, but it was not too late to help her recover.

"She needs to eat a full regulated diet, including all nutritional values." the Doctor said, "She will need to eat all of the food set in front of her, so if she isn't able to finish a meal..."

"I understand doctor. Thank you." Layton said, paying the man.

"Professah?" Luke said.

"Yes, Luke?" Layton said.

"How will we get her to be able to eat everything we give her?" Luke asked.

"We'll see when she eats." Layton replied.

That afternoon, the girl ate everything she was given with no problem. She looked happy.

"Thank you... Layton..." The girl whispered, before sleeping again.

The recovery process took a whole month. When she was able to walk again, she took a much needed bath. Layton also found her hair was different in different sections, some were red but most of it was brown. Given proper clothes, she looked as if she never was a thief

She often would walk around the house and she looked pleased while doing so. When she looked to be a healthy weight, Professor Layton had some questions for her to answer.

"My dear, you look very healthy." He said.

"It's all thanks to you." she said in a strange accent. Her voice used to be so strained, Layton never noticed she had one.

"We've never properly introduced ourselves." Layton said, "I am Professor Hershel Layton, an archeologist and teacher."

"I'm Aryn." the girl said, shaking the Professors hand respectfully.

"It is a pleasure to meet you." he said, "I have a few questions for you to answer."

"Alright, it's the least I could do after you saved my life." she said.

"You never gave a description as to who attacked and kidnapped you." Layton said.

"I remember he had hair that came out like horns and he wore a purple lens." Aryn said, "He was very scary.."

"Do you remember anything else that might help us find him?" Professor Layton pressed gently.

"...He said, 'Layton will never have the ability to stop me now that I have the two keys to stop him.'" she said thinking, "Perhaps I should tell you everything that happened from the point he kidnapped me to the point I escaped from him." she added.

"That is a very good idea." Layton nodded as he got tea ready for the two of them.


	3. ReAccounted Kidnaping, Aryn

Chapter 3

It was a dark, cold night over the football field. A young girl with brown and red hair sat in the bleachers alone. She was working feverishly on homework, her book bag lay open and empty, for all the homework she had was in her hands currently. She wore a coat, and a pair of comfortable jeans, her hair was tied back in a neat ponytail. She shivered, and waited for her parents to get her from the football field. There in the distance was a car that belonged to her parents. She packed her homework in her book bag with a smile and headed towards the car.

Then, there was a rumble. She didn't notice it as anything important, probably a storm. Out of nowhere there was a flash of purple, and suddenly she was lifted off her feet.

"Well, well, well, you were certainly easier to catch than you were made up to be..." said the voice that carried her.

"ARYN!" her mother and father called out.

"Mom! Dad! Help!" she screamed.

"Oh, there's no help for you now..." the voice said menacingly.

She looked up, and was terrified. His hair stuck out like horns, his pointed nose stuck in her face, and his eye held a single purple lens. A portal was behind him, and with one last look at Aryn's parents, the two of them, travel through the portal.

One minute, they were on the football field, the next...

She didn't know where she was. Aryn looked around. They were on a field a small distance away from... Big Ben? But she was in the States a moment ago, and something told her this wasn't a dream...

She then remembered she was being held captive by a deranged and creepy guy. She struggled against his clutches, but he held on firmly.

"Oh-ho, my dear, I will not be as foolish as I was when I first met you." he said, "Layton will never stop me now that I have the two keys to stop him. The monocle and you, you little pest, are the only things that will prevent me from reaching my goal."

He looked Aryn in the face. He looked like he was going to do more than hold her captive. But he wouldn't... Would he?

There was a sudden gleam of metal. She looked up and saw a dagger, jagged, and thirsting for blood. She tried to scream, but her mouth was covered. She reached into her pocket instinctively and pulled out a pair of scissors. She stabbed the man right in the shoulder blade, and dislocated his arm from his torso. He dropped the dagger instantly and tried to pull the scissors out of his shoulder with his only other hand. She dashed forward and reached for the dagger that sought to kill.

"D-Don't come any closer!" she shouted. Her shirt and face was now blood-stained with the mans blood. She waited for him to do something. All he did was snicker and then leave.

"Heh-heh... It's no wonder why he brought you along..." the man panted, holding his shoulder, and walking away.

Aryn panted for a little while. Fear held over her, and it would stay for a long time, until she stumbled into the house of Professor Hershel Layton.


End file.
